TIM XML update

From owner-tcif-ipi@lists.atis.org Fri Feb 27 09:31:13 1998
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 10:15:32 -0500
From: dfp@bert.ims.bellcore.com (Don Pratt(IMS))
Message-Id: <199802271515.KAA01059@bert.ims.bellcore.com>
To: tcif-ipi@lists.atis.org
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To: IPI
From: Don Pratt, Technical Team Leader
Subject: TIM XML update
Date: 1998-02-27
Folks:
I had an action item from the February meeting to update TIM
for XML compatibility by Feb 23, which I did. I was able to make TIM
XML-compliant per the spec without having to create a separate
XML-specific version. TIM 2.0.3 is available now at
ftp://ftp.bellcore.com/pub/world/TCIF/
HOWEVER, it happens that XML requires case-sensitive names for
elements and attributes (and attribute values when declared as
NMTOKENs). What this means is that the markup in your document
instance has to use exactly the same case as the DTD uses in its
declarations. You haven't had to worry about this before now.
Up to now, TIM's element declarations have used mixed case
in a way that cannot be said to follow any simple rule:
DocID, DistOrdLI, SubTitle (but Flowchart)
That will make it harder than it should be to make your
documents valid XML. The best solution seems to be to make
all element and attribute names all-lower-case, because:
1. It's an easy rule to remember.
2. Two XML-specified attributes TIM needs to use are required
to be lower-case.
3. At least two of the widely used SGML authoring tools (ADEPT
and Frame+SGML) write out instances with lower-case only, and
as far as I know no tools create upper- or mixed-case only.
(PLEASE CORRECT ME IF YOU KNOW OF ANY EXCEPTION.)
4. Existing applications that read in SGML files are not
supposed to care about case, and as far as I know none do.
(PLEASE CORRECT ME IF YOU KNOW OF ANY EXCEPTION.)
Since it should do no harm to existing SGML applications if we
change to all-lower-case in the DTD, and since it will do harm
to XML applications if we wait very long to do it, this is my plan:
I will release TIM 2.0.4, all-lower-case, on Friday, March 6,
unless one of you tells me of a serious problem that would create
for you.
(Note that having existing instances with wrong-case markup does
not constitute a "serious problem". Most existing instances will
have that problem no matter what we do, even if we leave the DTD
as is, because case matters now and it didn't before. Leaving
the DTD as is just makes the solution more complicated than a
simple all-lower-case rule.)
Barring objection, 2.0.4 and similarly modified CALS Table and
DOCID DTDs will go to the site above and these two:
http://www.atis.org/atis/tcif/http://bigbird.bellcore.com/TCIF/
I will send another message whichever way it goes.
Don